Monday, 19 November 2007

Tarte We Wish You Wealth

My Tarte We Wish You Wealth palette finally made its way over the oceans to me! It's truly the queen of all palettes as it contains 16 full size eyeshadows, 16 lipglosses, 4 cheekstains, 4 gel eyeliners, 1 primer, 1 luminiser, 3 lipsticks, an eyeshadow brush, an eyeliner brush, a small double-ended sponge-tip applicator and a small double-ended brush.

I wasn't impressed with the gel eyeliners and luminiser from Tarte's earlier palettes as the eyeliners tended to crease and fade easily and the luminiser did not give a nice finish. But even discounting these, the We Wish You Wealth palette is well worth the US$52 price tag just for the wide array of eyeshadows, lipglosses and cheekstains that are in it. Sure I would have preferred it if there were less neutral shades and more colourful options, but this is still a very good set of basic shades that are easily to wear without worrying about looking like a clown. The range of lip colors is excellent and chances are you can find a color to suit any mood that you're feeling. The only oddity is the moss green gel eyeliner shade which looks out of place in a palette of largely neutrals, pastels and smokey shades.

The big drawback of thus palette is the silly packaging where each layer swivels out to reveal the one beneath. It's a clumsy setup that virtually guarantees that you're going to end up mashing some of the shades by accident. It would have been much more idiot-proof if it was a simple stacked drawer system where you just pull out each layer like a chest of drawers. It should also be noted that this palette is made in China whereas Tarte's previous palettes used to be made in the US with only the packaging made in China. That kind of cheapens Tarte's brand image for me as usually it's drugstore brands like Wet'n'Wild and Jane that have their products made in China.

Overall, I would say this is definitely worth considering if you're thinking of trying Tarte out but f you already own many of Tarte's previous palettes, then this may not really rock your world given that less than exciting colour range and awkward construction.